Significance of Moment of Surrender's track placement

[TheEdge25]

Dont know if this is the right section for this thread, but here goes:


Moment of Surrender is the third track on NLOTH. One is the third track on Achtung Baby. Both of these songs are some of the greatest songs U2 has put out, imo.

Do you guys think there is a significance to the fact that they are both the third track on each album? Are there any similarities you can find between the songs, lyrically?

 

[zooropop40]

I think it is simply for placement reasons. Think about it, both albums starts off with pretty fast paced songs (ZS and EBTTRT and NLOTH and Mag) It is only natural to want to break the pace and come down to a slower song. Same thing with WOWY on Joshua Tree (though ISHFWILF is not too fast paced). I dont know if it has any significance in other ways but I think it is placed there mainly to help the flow of the album.

 

[BVS]

The songs have nothing in common except that they are both the third track. U2, for the most part have very similar tracklistings throughout their career, with a few exceptions. They like certain arcs and like Zooropop40 said one of the arcs they like has the third track U2 slowing things down and get a little more reflective, i.e. WOWY, ONE, Moment, Sometimes. Look at the way U2 like to end albums as well. If you pay attention you'll start to notice these arcs, I'm not saying all albums have the same arc throughout, but they like certain mini arcs throughout the album.

 

[Zoo360]

Yeah it reminds me of One's placement on Acthung Baby.

 

[JoRu]

I think it's part of a strategy they've been using for some of their albums to keep a good flow, and I personally think it works great. The first song usually starts slow and builds up into a climax that kicks off the album (WTSHNN, Zoo Station, NLOTH). Then the second song usually is a up-beat song (ISHFWILF, EBTTRT, Magnificent) to keep the momentum going. The first song on most albums are very good, so keeping the listener interested throughout the second song as well is important to stand out as a really good album.

Having a slower tune as the third song therefore feels natural to keep a good variety.